“We got to live with what they decided,”said Gov. Quinn. “We can’t just stand there and say ‘Woe is me.’ We got to do something. That’s why we’re here.”

In response, multiple agencies in Illinois have assembled a relief package for local governments. The departments include:

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (Up to $19.1 million to rebuild tornado-damaged infrastructure, $4.5 million for housing repair and reconstruction for low-income residents, $3.6 million to address unmet housing needs, up to $1 million to assist with disaster cleanup and recovery efforts, LIHEAP and Weatherization funds)

Illinois Department of Transportation (Up to $10 million to repair storm-damaged infrastructure)

“We’re going to rebuild this community the right way and we won’t have to cut corners,” he says. “We won’t have to raise property taxes or sales taxes to make these ends meet and that’s important because our residents are suffering enough.”

Currently, FEMA “places small and rural communities in highly populated states at a disadvantage in the federal disaster declaration process,” according to a press release from the Governor’s Office. Gov. Quinn says U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos – among others – are working to change that formula so that FEMA looks at each city individually instead of looking at the state’s overall population to determine funding.

“We need to change the law,” says Gov. Quinn. “That formula is not fair to a big state with rural areas like Illinois.”